Week 37
Recipe of the Week:
1 part rubbing alcohol
2 parts water
Seal in zip lock freezer bag, seal that bag in another zip lock bag, freeze until slushy.
Yield: 1 slushy ice pack.

How, you may ask, do I happen to have that recipe.  Well, Kerby's Achilles tendon has never actually healed despite his two weeks in a boot, steroids, and several more weeks to test the theory that time heals all wounds.  So the doctor referred him to physical therapy and he had his assessment session on Friday.  Becky specializes in feet and ankles, and feels quite sure that in 5 or 6 weeks he will be free of pain and able to walk without a limp.  She gave him some exercises to do at home and the ice pack recipe, then next week she'll start the therapy.

It was hot hot hot this week.  104 degrees today, 103 yesterday.  Air conditioning is one of the world's great inventions, and we are grateful for it every day!

Yesterday was my serger lesson in Hennessey.  Sergers have changed a lot in 30 years, so it was good to have that update.  (I've got one more project for the Wondertorium that will use the serger, then August 9th will be our last day volunteering there.  It was fun to be able to use our extra summer time helping there.)

Prairie Quilt--home of my serger

After the lesson we drove up to Enid to check it out.  Enid is larger than Stillwater, and is home to Vance Air Force Base.  As we drove into town, two jets zoomed over us, flying in perfect unison.  We later learned it was the 75th anniversary of the air base, and the Thunderbirds were in town for an air show.  It actually started later in the afternoon and we didn't see it, but we were glad to see those two practicing.  Interestingly, there is a Marshalese speaking branch in our stake in Enid, because so many people from the Marshal Islands came here to work at the air base.  There are 4-6 Marshalese speaking elders serving there.

Some Oklahoma facts:  Oklahoma has the second highest population of native Americans in the US--over 320,000--and they comprise 9% of the state population.  (California has the highest population with about 360,000, but that's less than 2% of the total population.)  There are 39 different tribes officially recognized in OK.  Some of them were always here, but many of them were driven into this region when the US government forced eastern tribes from their homelands into "Indian Territory" in the mid- to late 1800s.  At the end of that period there were 67 tribes in what later became Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma license plate says Native America on the bottom:

The picture is of a statue called Sacred Rain Arrow, depicting an Apache warrior shooting an arrow skyward as part of a prayer for rain.  It has been interesting to see the specific license plates for members of the different tribes.  Out of the 39 tribes, 31 have a distinct license plate.  They are all different from the OK standard plate and from each other.  Here are just a few samples:

We have just two weeks left of our Church History and Missionary Preparation classes and three more Tuesday Twiddles.  The summer has really flown by, and it's hard to believe OSU classes will begin on August 15.  We have learned much and truly love serving with our young single adults--in institute classes, in the ward, and in all the ward activities.

Will end with a picture of Sisters Smith and Belshe at dinner today: